Spain punched its ticket to Sunday’s World Cup final Tuesday, and it happened right here in North Texas.
La Roja shut out France 2-0 in the semifinal, the last of nine matches at Dallas Stadium. Mikel Oyarzabal converted a 22nd-minute penalty after Lucas Digne caught Lamine Yamal while attempting a clearance, and Pedro Porro doubled the lead in the 58th minute with a give-and-go finish past Mike Maignan.
Spain held France to two shots on target, neutralizing Kylian Mbappé and a French attack that had looked nearly unstoppable throughout the tournament. The victory sent Spain back to the final for the first time since its 2010 title run.
England and Argentina play at 2 p.m. CT Wednesday in Atlanta to determine who will face Spain in the final.
With the July 14 semifinal in the books, Dallas Stadium’s nine-match run as a 2026 FIFA World Cup host is complete. The venue hosted more matches than any other stadium in the tournament, and the last month gave Arlington plenty to remember.
Nine matches, no shortage of drama
Dallas Stadium hosted five group-stage games and four knockout-round fixtures.
The run began June 14 with a 2-2 draw between the Netherlands and Japan. England followed with a 4-2 win over Croatia on June 17, when FC Dallas forward Petar Musa became the first active FC Dallas player to score at a World Cup.
But the moment that put Arlington in the World Cup record book came June 22.
As The Dallas Express witnessed live, Lionel Messi delivered a two-goal performance against Austria that broke Miroslav Klose’s men’s World Cup scoring record. Messi’s first-half strike gave him 17 career World Cup goals, moving him past Klose’s 16. His stoppage-time finish pushed the record to 18 and sealed a 2-0 Argentina win in front of a sellout crowd.
The Messi frenzy alone gave Texas a permanent piece of World Cup history.
Japan and Sweden played to a 1-1 draw three days later. FIFA also installed black curtains along the stadium’s west-facing glass wall for the first time during a major sporting event, a temporary fix for the sunlight glare Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has long dismissed calls to address during NFL games.
Argentina returned to Arlington on June 27 for its first-ever meeting with Jordan, closing group play with a 3-1 victory.
The knockout stretch
Arlington’s knockout schedule began June 30 with Norway’s 2-1 win over Ivory Coast in the round of 32.
Australia and Egypt then played to a 1-1 draw on July 3 before Egypt advanced 4-2 on penalties, sending the Pharaohs to the round of 16 for the first time in the country’s history.
The round of 16 brought another European heavyweight matchup July 6. Spain beat Portugal 1-0 on Mikel Merino’s goal in second-half stoppage time, a result that previewed the control and persistence Spain carried into Tuesday’s semifinal.
Spain returned eight days later and finished the job against France, closing the stadium’s tournament run by securing a place in the final.
Back to being AT&T Stadium
Arlington’s World Cup run is done, but the tournament rolls on without it. France will play for third place Saturday, and the winner of Wednesday’s Argentina-England semifinal will meet Spain in Sunday’s final at New York New Jersey Stadium.
North Texas will not host again this tournament, but it leaves with a broken World Cup scoring record, the first active FC Dallas player to score on the sport’s biggest stage, a curtain rig improvised to fight off sunlight, and a semifinal that sent Spain to the final.
Nine matches. No shortage of history.
The last men’s World Cup held in the United States came in 1994, 32 years before this one.
No one knows how long AT&T Stadium will wait for another chance to host a World Cup, so Arlington may want to savor this one for a while.
Provided by Dallas Express
